Alyssa Milano, Famous Cameos, and Other Secrets of 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

With all the planet-hopping, orb-chasing action in Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s impossible to catch every surprise cameo and Marvel in-joke that whizzes by. But director James Gunn has embedded lots of fun details in his space romp, from Peter Quill’s old-school Walkman to the surprising end-credits scene. Here are some other secrets hidden in the new blockbuster. (Spoilers to follow!)

- Two pals of Avengers director Joss Whedon make stealth appearances in the film: Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Alexis Denisof as Thanos’ henchman The Other, and Firefly's Nathan Fillion as the voice of an alien who is nasally impaled by Groot.

- James Gunn’s mentor Lloyd Kaufman, director of The Toxic Avenger, has a cameo as one of the prisoners in the Kyln. Gunn himself makes an appearance as a member of Ronan’s Sakaaran army.

- Musician and horror producer Rob Zombie, who appeared in Gunn’s previous films Slither and Super, plays the voice of the Ravager Navigator.

- Peter Quill references an embarrassing tryst with an alien called an A’askvarii (“It was just one time!”). In case you were wondering, they look like this.

- When the Collector is explaining the power of the Infinity Gems, he shows a visual of an alien using an Infinity Gem to destroy a planet. That alien is a Celestial, the same giant space being as the one whose head become Knowhere.

- Is Peter Quill a classic movie buff? He refers to the orb as having a “shiny suitcase, Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon vibe.” Given that he left the planet Earth in 1988 (pre-Pulp Fiction), the briefcase likely refers to Kiss Me Deadly (1955). The other two objects are MacGuffins from The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

- At the very end of the credit scroll is the line “No raccoons or tree creatures were harmed in the making of this film.” Just in case you were worried.